Keyfield International has entered into a shipbuilding contract through its subsidiary, Keyfield Resolute, for the construction of a new anchor handling tug supply vessel.
The agreement with China's Jiangsu Shunhong Marine Technology involves a contract price of $18 million, which is equivalent to MYR70.7 million. Jiangsu Shunhong has previously constructed offshore support vessels for the group, including the Keyfield Wisdom.
The board of directors confirmed the vessel will be a 90-tonne diesel-electric DP2 unit. Construction of the new DP2 AHTS is part of a strategy to allocate more resources to the anchor handling tug supply market while expanding international charters, Keyfield stated.
Existing vessels are largely committed to long-term charters, so the new vessel will allow the company to pursue spot charter opportunities, Keyfield noted. The group intends to fund the project through a combination of internal cash and remaining proceeds from an issuance of approximately MYR45 million.
The project is expected to, "have a positive effect on the earnings of our group in the future," Keyfield remarked. Deployment into vessel chartering operations is tentatively scheduled for 2027 or 2028.
The group added it will appoint representatives to supervise the entire shipbuilding project to mitigate risks related to delivery timelines or specifications.